Yuan Shu was somewhat surprised.
She had thought this person was Yun Sheng, but unexpectedly, it was Helan Zhao.
His tall, slender figure looked a little thin, with only faintly defined muscles visible across his chest and abdomen.
No wonder she had felt something hard pressing against her when he held her just now. She had thought it was her imagination, but it turned out she had been in the arms of a different man!
Yun Sheng had been paying particular attention to his training lately, and his body had already developed quite a bit of muscle. When he was relaxed, those muscles were soft and comfortable to lean against.
Helan Zhao, on the other hand, though not exactly skinny, was still far less comfortable to lean against.
Yuan Shu frowned. “What are you doing here?”
There were disciples from the Falling Immortal Sect guarding the entrance to the hot spring. He should not have been able to get in without her token.
“What’s wrong with me being here? Does it have to be Yun Sheng for you to be satisfied?”
Yuan Shu raised an eyebrow. She had keenly detected the hostility this fellow felt toward Yun Sheng.
But the way he looked right now…
Yuan Shu’s gaze traveled up and down Helan Zhao’s body.
Helan Zhao was completely naked, revealing his lean waist and tall, broad frame. The water reached his waist, concealing the lower half of his body.
Yet she could vaguely make out a pair of long, straight legs beneath the surface.
This fellow wasn’t even wearing underpants!
As though she had understood something, Yuan Shu curled her lips into a smile. She moved backward and leaned against the wall of the pool.
“Helan Zhao, you secretly followed me here. What exactly are you planning to do?”
Her figure was graceful, her curves exaggerated. The thin fabric clung tightly to her skin, leaving large areas of snow-white flesh exposed to the air.
Helan Zhao’s already heated breathing grew heavier.
His Adam’s apple bobbed. He took two steps forward until he was standing in front of Yuan Shu, then stretched out both hands and braced them against the wall on either side of her.
He lowered his eyes. A pair of bright, deep-set eyes looked down at the woman before him.
“Yuan Shu, do you really not know why I came?”
The instant he finished speaking, Helan Zhao lowered his head and kissed her lips. Before he could touch them, however, Yuan Shu turned her face away.
His kiss landed on Yuan Shu’s shoulder instead. He did not seem angry. He simply lowered his head and took the skin of her shoulder between his lips.
Yuan Shu frowned and pushed him away twice. “Stop fooling around!”
“Why don’t you treat Yun Sheng this way? Yuan Shu, you clearly let him do whatever he wanted to you, and you even enjoyed it!”
With his face pushed aside, Helan Zhao’s expression immediately turned aggrieved.
He had imagined countless times how he would treat her.
Just now, he had only managed to kiss her lips. He had not even kissed her deeply before she pushed him away. And now she was avoiding his advances again.
Was there something wrong with his face?
His mother had clearly said that he was the most handsome among all the children of his generation. The noble young ladies were all eager to cling to him!
He was obviously no worse than that Yun Sheng, was he?
Yuan Shu was somewhat surprised by his words. “You’ve been staying in the guest residence these past few days?”
If he had not seen it with his own eyes, how else would Helan Zhao have known about what had happened between her and Yun Sheng?
This fellow… Could he have some strange, hidden fetish?
His ability to conceal his presence was unusual as well. Even she had not noticed him!
“So what if I have?”
Helan Zhao lowered his body until his eyes met Yuan Shu’s. After a moment, his gaze drifted downward and landed on her exaggerated curves.
“I saw them with my own eyes. They’re beautiful.”
His words carried an obvious implication. His voice was hoarse, and by the end, it held a hint of pleading.
“Yuan Shu, anything Yun Sheng can do, I can do too. Why don’t you try me?”
His eyes were bright, like those of a clear-eyed young deer seeking a mate in the forest.
Yuan Shu merely chuckled and rejected him. “No.”
“Why?” Helan Zhao frowned at her, his eyes instantly filled with both indignation and anger. “How am I inferior to that Yun Sheng? You like him so much. Can’t you like me too? He has what I have!”
As he spoke, Helan Zhao straightened and thrust his waist forward, as if trying to prove something.
Something flashed before Yuan Shu’s eyes, and her eyelid twitched violently.
It had to be said that although Helan Zhao looked slender, some assets were simply innate and had nothing to do with whether he was thin or not.
The amazement in Yuan Shu’s eyes did not escape Helan Zhao.
His gaze brightened. He strode toward Yuan Shu on his long legs and displayed himself before her without the slightest reservation.
“Yuan Shu, I really can do it!”
Yuan Shu looked him up and down, finally settling on those watery, deer-like eyes. She gave a soft laugh.
“I don’t play with children.”
With that, Yuan Shu turned and walked toward the steps of the hot spring, preparing to leave.
Helan Zhao hurriedly protested, “What child? I’m already an adult! How am I still a child?”
But Yuan Shu acted as though she had not heard him. She continued toward the shore without the slightest hesitation.
Helan Zhao grew anxious at once. He quickly followed and grabbed her by the wrist.
“Yuan Shu, I’ve already grown up. You saw it yourself just now. How can you still treat me like a child?”
If he were a child, his parents would not have been arranging marriage prospects for him!
It was merely that his face looked a little young. How did that make him a child?
Yuan Shu struggled twice, but the fellow’s grip was so tight that she could not break free. She frowned and looked at the wrist he was holding.
“Let go,” she said coldly.
Helan Zhao clenched his teeth. His deer-like eyes were red as he stared at her stubbornly, refusing to release her.
“You haven’t answered me!”
Yuan Shu gave a soft snort, her smile not reaching her eyes.
“I think you’re small everywhere. Stop following me and go home to your parents.”
As soon as her cool voice fell, Yuan Shu took advantage of his stunned silence to pull her hand free and turn away.
Helan Zhao’s eyes widened slightly. His fair, handsome face flushed crimson, though it was impossible to tell whether it was from embarrassment or anger.
Did she really see him as a child?
When no sound of splashing came from behind her, Yuan Shu assumed he had finally given up. She climbed out of the hot spring and was just about to change clothes nearby when someone suddenly grabbed her wrist and yanked her backward.
Before Yuan Shu could react, Helan Zhao caught her by the shoulders and pressed forward step by step until she crashed against the stone pillar behind her.
She abruptly raised her head. Helan Zhao held her wrists tightly, his legs forcing their way between hers as he pinned her firmly against the pillar.
Without exchanging another word, he seized her chin, lowered his head slightly, and kissed her with force and dominance.
Yuan Shu’s eyes widened slightly. Instinctively, she gathered her spiritual power and resisted.
“Ugh.”
Helan Zhao let out a muffled groan when she struck him in the chest with her palm, but his hold did not loosen in the slightest.
Instead, as though her resistance had only provoked him, he kissed her even more fiercely.
Yuan Shu shoved him hard several times, but Helan Zhao was also at the Nascent Soul Realm. Against a stubborn man like him, such pushing was completely ineffective.
Unless she used her full strength and injured him!
Yuan Shu frowned. The man’s reckless, overbearing kiss pressed against her lips, his tremendous force seeming intent on swallowing every trace of her breath and stirring her mouth until it hurt.
This fellow had actually taken offense at being called small?
If she remembered correctly, the dragon-shaped jade pendant Helan Zhao carried with him was a royal token of the Heavenly Dragon Dynasty.
In other words, Helan Zhao was a member of the imperial family. Judging from his manner of speech and bearing, he was most likely a prince!
